Method of heating orchards and apparatus therefor



1,630,45 w. c. scHEu METHD OF HEATING ORCHARDS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR Filed Ju1y14, 1 923 May 3l, 1927.

17D) fm b MZ (ww 7 ff C2/W, f f @@5029 i nul-lu lip u inl-nin! iii!!! Patented May 3,1, 1927.

WILLIAM c. sonno, or UPLAND, CALIFORNIA.

METHOD or HEATING oncHARns -AND umnafrus'rnannroa' Application' med :my l14,

4This invention relates to`4 an vimproved method of. heating orchards orcrops of various kinds to protect th'em lfrom damage' by frost or lowering temperatures.

5g ,It has been 4the .practice heretofore to accomplish this desirable result through the joperation of a vast number of individual heaters 4distributed at spaced intervals vthroughout an orchard or other area containing growin crops.

\ These indivi ual heaters have been of various types ,and description, the sim' lest being the well known smudge pot-whic attempts to accomplish'protection to the trees 16 or crops-more from a heavy Asmudge or connected with operating individualheaters and has for a principal object the provision smoke than from a liberation of heat from theburning fuel.

- Anotherand more populartype of device is a'heaterdesigned to generate a gasfrom 20 a body ture .of air to form a combustible mixture and burn the samewithout smoke or smudge and thereby create -quite lan intense heat which radiates out around the. trees or crops and maintains a temperature above the frost or free-zing point and thus protects ,themv from damage.v

This type of gas generating and gas burning heater has proven hlghly `eliicient .in

practice and has become the standard type for eneral use. -v A T eemployment of this type of individual heater [requires from' fifty to eighty heaters per acre so that a twenty acre 85' orchard, for instance. would require hundred individual heaters. This requires a number of assistants with torches to fire' each heater Whenever heat is required and -40 at the same time toadjust the air draft on attendance from suiiicient operators tokeep the entire equipment in proper operating condition.

If the periodof operation extends over a sutlicient .time` to consume the heaters refilling becomes'necessary, requiring tank wa ons and the usualappliances connected tierewith.

of 011, and, through-a propermix throughout in the neighborhood of one thousand to sixteenA all of the oil in,

1926. serial No. 651,667.

Anotherpopular type joffheater is one' -f designed to burn a solid -or-semisolid fuel 1 such as coke, coal, 4o r coal dust mixed with saw dustand oil andany other combustible material.. These valso require more or less j attendancegfor eiclent operatlon, and require refilling at frequent intervals- 'if burned over an extended period. As small a' number, as two thousand inv operation at` one time reqmres quite an equipment of anA `eflicient sort to handle the fuel required.

My li'n'lproved method of heating orchards, or other described i'n this specication is intended to obviate many of the special requirements of a centrally located gasl generating station, a Agas container, conduitsleading from said,container to branch gas lines runnin out through the orchard, each of the brano growing crops as illustratedv and* lines having burners located at properly spaced intervals and in sufficient number to supply the necessary heat. The burners extend out from, lthe branch lines in any de.

sired direction. preferably from the bottom or under sides of the pipes so as todis'- tribute the heat near the ground where the coldest air accumulates.

lBy. concentrating the generation of gas at a central: oint and thereafter distributing it throng the` conduits and branch lines` the orchard, conduces toa minimum of labor expense, since one man, or two `at the most could easily lokiflate a gas generating plant of sufficient capacity to' protect a considerable acreage'.

A further advantage .of my improved method of heating orchards resides inthe immense amount of increased Yradiating 'surface brought into play Vwith only the one gas generating plant. By underneath the line pipes the pipes will soon become heated andwill then add their quota 'of radiation to that of the burners and thus help materially in'kecpin the tem erature 'in' the orchard lfrom l danger point.

Another im rtant advantage resides in centralizing placing the burners ling be ow the e production of the combustible gas and generating it at one place,

in justv one' piece of apparatus, instead ,of

enerating gas in one thousand or more Individual pieces of apparatus ,distributed throughout the-area tobe rotected. Where large orchards of.,4 several undred acres are to be protected a number rof generating units vwould be used', eachunit taking care of ten,

would supply oil asA needed, thus saving much of the labor and expense of attending. the ordinary t pe of orchard heater.

With such o jects in view, as well as other advantages which may be incident to" thel vuse of the improvements, t'he -invention consists in the procedure, and 'in the parts and combinations thereof heremafter set forth and claimed, with the understanding that the several elements constituting the same may he varied in proportion. and arrangement without departing from t'he nature of the invention. a

In order to make the invention more clearly understood there are shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practical'elfeet, without limiting-the improvements in their useful appllcations, to the particular construction which, for thepurpose of explanation, have been made the su'b]ect of illustration.

The apparatus illustrating my improved method of heatingand ,protecting growing and ripening crops is only diagrammatic.

Many of the actual details connectedl with `the construction. and" o eration are intentionally omitted as formmg the subject mat- .ter of another application.

The apparatus in the main', while generally.

diagrammatic in character, is approximately correct in arrangement and'location of parts and correctly illustrates the method formin the subject matter of this application. eferring now to the drawings 'forming a part of this application, where like figures of reference indicate like parts inthe sev- 'eral views:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan illustrating on a reduced scale the general location and'arrangement of an apparatus capable lof utilizing my improved method.' A portion of an orchard isy indicated with'pipe lines and burner openings located at spaced in tervals to properly distribute the heat developed from the burning gases. l

Figure 2 is an elevation looking in the direction of the arrow A of Fig. 1 and illustrates the main operating parts of the gas generating appliances and ,the storage tank and delivery system of said gases to the distributing pipe lines.

In order to show as simple an apparatus as possible I have utilized several of my standard type .of smokeless orchardheaters as gas generators and have connected the genlrating space directly with a storage tan The gas generators convert the oil in the bowls to'a gas in the same well known manfor distribution and consumption through-v out the orchard. l have designated the gas generators by the numeral 1, and the' storage `tank or capacity by the numeral 2. The gas 4as generated and delivered to. the storage tank is not combustible without an -admixture of air. Leading from the tank 2 is a pi e B'equipped with an air inlet valve 4, t e

p1pe 3 leading to a suction blower 5. The' blower 5 is motor driven by a suitable-motor as at 6. Leading from the blower` 5 is a delivery pipe 7 leading to the -main branch line pipe 8. From -the line pipe 8 extend burner line pipes 9 located at. properly spaced interyals and having burner openings 10.

The burners 10 arel shown as located on the .underside of the line pipes9 so that the flame is projected toward the ground. I have shown this as preferred location. It will be readily understood however, that the burner openings may be pla'ced in any radial location 1n relation to the axis of the pipes.

A row ofl small burners might entirely encircle the pipes at spaced intervals, or the burner openings might assume a spiral path of location along each pipe. They may be placed in any relative positions that is thought to give best results, and. may be made of any desired, size. In any event it is desirable that thel burners are numerous enough and large enough to produce a hot roaring fire, since such a fire is necessary to radiate suiiicient heat to maintain a temperature of 32 or thereabout around the trees when outside temperatures are around Vin the low twenties.

The operation of my improved method of heating orchards would proceed vin vaproximately the following manner. The owls of the gas generators 1 would be filled to a previously determined proper level with a suitable fuel `oil and the oil ignited through the air inlet openings in the covers. As soon as the generators are warmed and begin to produce a gas it will accumulate in'the tank 2 and as soon as the tank has a sufficient supply the suction blower 5 can be started when the gas will be drawn from the tank and sentvout through `the lines to the burners. An operator with a torch proceeds from line to lineand ignites the gas issuing from the burner openings. As the 4 is opened so that a proper mixture of air and lgas is sent out through the lines. After the burners are all goingv the pipes will suction blower is started the air inlet valve of oil and will burn some hours at full ca pacity, that is assuming that bowls of the kind shown are used. If special gas generating units are provided they can of course be made to hold any desired quantity of fuel oil. In either event the attendance necessary to operate a system such as is l shown and which is sutiicient for a small orchard, and the supplying of oil and ad justments to the ai'r inlets in the generating units, is a small matter compared to attending several thousand individual heaters distributed throughout the same orchard.

The longer the system isl operated at one time the more etiicient it will become,'be cause after all of the pipe lines become properly heated, where overgroundmetallic pipes are used, somewhat less oil will be produci' g rnateri delivering said consumed to maintain a' proper temperature in the orchard,l and, since the filling and other attendance necessary to the operation of the system is so simple and easy, continuous operationof the apparatus over days at a timeis possible,` and, after once getting everything in proper working order the attendant -can look after other matters and give only casual attentionto the apparatus.`

In theforegoing description I have referred particularly to conveying the gencrated gasesthrough above ground metalllc conduits or pipes. I have shown and described Athis means as one way of carrying out my. method. Underground or over ground conduits of metal, concret, tilin or anyv other suitable material may be use without de arting-from the nature of my invention.` ikewise I have shown and described a gas generating apparatus built up of ready to hand units, to illustrate the application of my improved method. I therefore wish it understood any type of apparatus for generatag a as from a sultablegas aI and having -means for as to av system of conduits extending t roughout .an orchard or other area to be heated, as coming within the scope and meaning of my claims hereto appended.

I also wish to point out that in using the terms @fuel oil and other such expressions I do not refer to any particular type or kind of oil, in fact, I do not confine myself to oil` Y generated may be used` in anydesired 'maumay be supplied at any desired point along the line of conveyance.`

With certain types ofl burners the pure gas may be 4,delivered to the burner land airmixed therewith at the point of combustion in any well known manner. Also it is not necessary that a suction-blowerbe used in just the manner I have indicated. With a suitably arranged and constructed storage system lthe pressure necessary to force the gas through the conduits may be applied in any of theways'now employed for forcing gasthrough a delivery'system, operating wither. without a blower.

I also wish to point out that) I have in. dicated quite large cross-sectionconduits as running from the4 gas generatin station 4out amon the treesl in the orchar These large con uits are necessary tofprevent undue condensation of the gases and the deposition .of residue thereby. Small pipes carry so small a volume of gas that cnden- I sation is ractically unavoidable, and whereever con ensation occurs, residue. and carbonaceous materials will be deposited and the pipes thereby clogged resulting in complete failure -of the system at a most critical time.

There will be some condensation Y in large conduits when the apparatus is the gaseous vapor produced by this method of heating orchards will remain a gas only so long' as it is comparatively hot, and it will be impossible to ulitize this method unless -the 'conveying pipes are large' enough to maintain the naturalheat of the gas Auntil it reaches the outermost burner stations.

` Small diameterpipes would permit the gas to cool and condense as fast as it fiowed into them and it would never reach the extremities of a heating system on a cold night. Y

What I claim as new 'and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of making, distributingr and burning a temporary gas :tor the pro- 130 tection of orchards against frost damage consisting in subjecting afuel oil to heat to 'convert it into al temporary gas at a generatlng station, mixingair with said gas,

conveying said gas'to in said or-A chard and lretardlng the reversion of said said mixture at said points-of emission iny the orchard along said 4pipe lines.

' 2. An apparatus'for producing a temporary gas for protecting` orchards against frost damage, comprising means for subjecting` a fuel oil to heat to thereby produce a condensible gas, an-enlarged capacity for Ireceiving said gas, large diameter pipe lines leading from said capacity for conveying said ygas throughout an orchard while retarding the reversion of said gas to its liquid state,l means communicatmg with saidvlarge diameter pipe linesjfor supplyin air vto said gas to produce a combustible mlxture, and burners distributed in said orchard along said pipe lines for burning said mixture at different points in the orchard as the mixture isl conveyed through said pipes. l p

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM C. SCHEU.. 

